Lost But Now Found
by SLPikachu
Summary: Daryl comes across this little girl, who turns out, has a similar past to his and takes her in.
1. Lost and Found

It was another day. One more day he was alive. One more day neither the living or the dead done him in. His road hasn't ended yet. He'd question why, now and then. Why was he still alive? In a world gone to shit, why was Daryl Dixon alive? Maybe because he was a tough dude. Maybe it was his stubbornness that kept him going. Who knew, he certainly didn't. But what happened today, never would be expected.

Daryl headed out to scavenge for food, medical supplies, or guns. Anything that would be useful to their community. He fought his way through walkers, taking care of each one with either his trusty crossbow or knife, which ever was needed for that particular one. Daryl made sure not to seen, keeping quiet as not to draw attention. Not even he could take care of a horde of them.

When he shot one walker in the head with an arrow, a sound behind him got his attention. Quickly switching around, Daryl pointed his crossbow at the alleyway. There was a stack of molded, old cardboard boxes with garbage surrounding it. There was nobody there, but it was apparent someone was.

Daryl tightened his grip on his crossbow, keeping his eye out for any sign of movement. "Show ya'self! I know you're in there!" He waited a brief second, but no one appeared. "Don't make me come in there!"

Suddenly, a box was knocked over, followed by a tiny voice that broke. "Pl-please don't shoot m-me, sir." It sounded as though it belonged to a child.

Daryl was at a loss. "Well...just come on out then." Shortly after, slowly, but surely, he caught a bit of dirty blond hair. He couldn't tell if it was naturally that way or if it was from not being washed. A face also appeared, small and full of timidness. "What yer name?"

"Au-Aud-ry," she stuttered, watching him with uneasiness.

"Audry?"

The kid gave a small nod.

Daryl lowered his crossbow.

"What...what's y-your name?" she asked him.

"Daryl. Where yer folks?" He looked the kid over, noticing the layer of dirt plastered all over her face and arms.

"My m-mommy went to find help. S-she t-told me to w-wait here until she c-comes back."

"How long ago was that?"

"Um…" The kid glanced away out of the corner of her eye, thinking. "The sun...it went t-t-to sleep, t-two t-t-t-times…"

"Kid, er, I mean, Audry, you don't need to be scared. I'm not gonna hurt ya." The kid barely getting her words out, kind of tugged at the guy's heart. It didn't help that he had been wandering around this place, for several hours, and haven't come across anyone, alive.

"I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry."

Audry dropped her head towards the cement. "I'm sorry," she repeated, causing an eyebrow of his to rise. Apologizing for apologizing? Dang. Poor kid.

Suddenly, her head snapped up and screamed out, "Look out!"

Daryl immediately turned on his heel, at that, pointing his crossbow up, just as a walker lunged for him. He shot the sucker right in the eye socket. It dropped backwards, dead for good, as it should be. Turning back to check on Audry, he saw her nowhere in sight.

"Audry?" he called out.

Audry peeked out from where she had been hiding before. "Is it g-gone?"

"Yeah, I took care of it. Come here," he invited her over, kneeling to her level. The kid hesitated, not moving an inch. "I won't hurt ya, I promise."

"You pinky swear?"

"What?" Daryl stared at her, confused.

Audry had been standing on her hands and knees, looking around a box. She stared up at him, trying to make eye contact. Her gaze dropped, only able to look elsewhere. "P-pinky swear. It's what Mommy and I do when we make promises t-to each other." Pushing herself up, Audry held her left pinky finger up, timidly. "It's like a handshake, only with p-pinkies."

Daryl stared at it.

It dropped, limply along with her head. "It's okay if you th-ink it's stupid. M-my daddy thought it was, too."

Something inside of him made Daryl reach out his pinky finger, towards her. "Nah, it's cool, kid." It made her look up. Still timidly, Audry stumbled onto her feet which Daryl could now see she was barefoot, but just as plastered with dirt, and slowly made her way over to reach, wrapping her smaller pinky around his. He was caught off guard when the kid wrapped her arms around his neck. Shaking it off, he lightly held an arm around her.

It took a lot of convincing, but Daryl persuaded to let him take her back to Alexandria. Only if they looked for her mother, though. So, they started their search around the area. It wasn't until they had to give up and start heading for the car, did they find her and it wasn't how they'd hoped, either. Audry had spotted her first, pointing her out. When Daryl saw her mother was a walker, his heart just about dropped. Telling her to look away, Daryl aimed his crossbow at her and put the woman down.

Audry grabbed onto his leg and cried into it.

He didn't know what to say or do. The kid just lost her mom, and who knew where her dad was. "Maybe we can find your dad," he offered, running a hand along the top of her head. Daryl felt her shake her head, no.

She managed to look up at him, her face drenched in tears. Sniffing in, Audry admitted, "I don't w-want to find D-daddy."

"How come?"

The kid fell silent, dropping her gaze towards the ground.

Something suddenly didn't feel right.

He took her to the car and let Audry climb into the backseat. A tape he had in the radio came on when Daryl started the car and filled it with rock music.

Audry had scooted towards the edge of the seat, holding a hand outstretched against the front passenger seat. "I like this song."

Daryl looked back at the kid, in surprise. "What do you know about Zepplin?"

"Mommy played it all the time in the car, too," she said. "And Bon Jovi. They're awesome."

"You think so, huh?"

She nodded, a little.

He was starting to like this kid. "Sit back and put your belt on," he nodded at her.

Audry scooted over, to sit in the seat behind him, reaching up to pull down the seatbelt. When she did, Daryl happened to glance up into the mirror, making sure she was settled before moving. Her shirt had lifted, revealing some scars leading into her shirt, hoping it wasn't what he thought they were.

"Hey," he nodded at her.

She looked up from fastening her seatbelt.

"You get scratched by one of the dead?"

Audry shook her head.

"You wanna tell me about them marks on your ribs?"

She looked away, sucking in her lip. The silence confirmed his suspension.

"Sorry, kid."

"Daddy...gets mad, a lot." Audry stole a look up at him.

Daryl sat there, twisted in his seat. He reached back and gave her knee a gentle squeeze, to show her some sympathy. She still looked a little timid, but at least the stuttering was going away.

Back at Alexandria, everyone had been surprised to see Daryl bring home a small child, who suddenly turned shy, seeing a group of strangers surround her. She hid behind Daryl's legs, peeking out at them.

Rick stepped towards them and kneeled to her level. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Au-Audry."

"How old are you, Audry?"

"I think I'm seven," she guessed. "M-Mommy was tr-trying to k-keep t-t-track, but it was hard without a calendar. I was six before the dead rose."

"Well, Audry, would you like to stay here with us?" he offered.

"C-can I stay with Daryl?" Audry asked.

He looked up at Daryl.

Daryl nodded. "It's cool with me." This was surely new territory for the guy.

 _ **Just a random short story that suddenly popped into my head.**_


	2. Slingshots and Bad Dreams

Chapter 2

Audry sat on her legs, in the dirt, her tongue between her teeth as she focused on tying the rubber band to the Y-shaped thin stick she found. It had been a month since Daryl had come across the little girl, who slowly came out of her shell and got to know everyone in the community.

Whenever Daryl left on a scavenge run, Audry had took to hiding until he returned. It had taken a lot of persuasion to let someone bathe her. The bathtub was a coated mess afterwards and the kid had to be scrubbed down well just to just the dirt off her. If they were in a _Peanuts_ comic strip, Audry would be the one with the dust cloud around her, even in snow, that's how dirty she was. Though, it didn't take long for her to be dirty again once she was clean. By the next day, Daryl found the kid covered in dirt once more.

The kid still ran around barefoot even though somebody tried to offer her some shoes to wear. Audry just politely declined the offer and ran off to play, so the bottoms of her feet were always brown from dirt, along with the rest of her. The girl prefered to wear T-shirts and shorts as those were the most comfortable to play in. Even when it was cold, stating the cold never bothered her.

The sad part about finally getting her clean was what they found underneath the layer of dirt. Those marks Daryl caught sight of on her ribs weren't half of what lined her small form. From her shoulders down to her thighs above the knees were covered in old scars from what appeared to be a belt. That was why nobody gave her any grief about hiding from everyone, letting Audry come out on her own on her own terms. Why the kid warmed up to Daryl, faster, no one was sure. But whenever Daryl was around, one could be sure his new shadow was right there beside him.

Audry was so involved with her project, she didn't hear Daryl come around the corner, looking for her.

"What you doin' back here, Audry?" His voice startled her, making the kid jump out of her skin. She twisted around to look up where the voice had come from. She lit up with excitement when Audry saw who it belonged to. "Daryl!" Jumping to her feet, Audry dashed over to him and hugged him around the legs.

"Hey, kid. Stay out of trouble today while I was gone?" Daryl teased her. So far, the kid had yet to give him or anyone trouble.

She smirked up at her gaurdian. "Duh," she replied.

"Hey," he arched his eyebrows, placing his hands on his sides. "Watch it." Daryl then smirked, as well. "What was that you were workin' on?"

Audry held the stick with the rubber band tied to it up to him. "I'm making a slingshot so I can protect myself if a walker gets me."

"Hmph. You are, huh?"

She nodded.

Daryl kneeled to her level, asking for the makeshift slingshot. He tested it, pulling the middle of the rubber band as far back as it would go. The base of the stick bent, breaking in the process.

Audry's face dropped in disappointment. "You broke it." It looked like the kid was close to tears.

"That's yer problem, kiddo. In order for it to work, yer gonna need a thicker and stronger stick, branch actually. Not to mention, a rubber band ain't suited for a slingshot, neither." Her eyes were beginning to water by this point even though he managed to keep his tone gentle. "It's a good effort, though. I can show ya how to make a better one if you like. That sound good?"

Audry wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded. "Okay," she sniffed back the rest.

Reminding her to stay close, Daryl took her outside the walls to look for supplies they'll need. Both of them looked around at the ground, looking for a Y-shaped branch as sturdy as could be with very few to no imperfections.

"The trick is fer it not to break easily when yer using it," he explained to her. "Otherwise, yer in deep trouble, kiddo."

"Okay," she nodded.

They searched around for the right branch for forty minutes before Audry found one that had extra branches on it. Taking it from her, Daryl examined it, making sure it couldn't bend at all. Once he saw it was unbendable, Daryl took out his hunting knife and cut away the unneeded extra branches, making it a complete Y. The duo then headed back inside the community where Daryl sat on the steps of one of the houses with Audry next to him, watching. He continued to use his knife, peeling away the bark, and any bumps or knots.

It took a while to strip the branch, but once Daryl finished, he then cut notches an inch from the top of the fork prongs where the band will go before attaching a more stronger stretchable band he happened to have in his bag, tying it around the notches and attached the other ends to a piece of leather he tore off from some scraps he had. Throughout the process, Daryl also explained what he was doing in terms Audry could understand.

Finally, what seems like forever to the kid, though it was only an hour, the slingshot was finished. Daryl then had her follow him to look for ammo.

"Keep alert of yer surroundings, kiddo," he told her, kneeled in the dirt. "See a rock that could fit in here," Daryl held the slingshot out towards her, "grab it," grabbing a small pebble from the dirt, he set it against the leather and held it up, making sure no one was in range. "Pull back as far as you can go, then release." Releasing the band, the rock soared through the air, hitting the wall with a loud thump. "Here."

Audry took the slingshot from him but helped her aim. They had to wait until someone walked by before Daryl gave her the say to release, letting Audry do it on her own. It hit around the same area as he did.

"Did I do good, Daryl?" she asked, looking at him, eagerly.

"Yep. Good aim, kiddo."

The kid smiled at that.

"However," he started to say. Daryl hated having to be honest with the kid and shatter her dreams. "I have to tell ya, using this on a walker will only piss it off. It won't kill it. A slingshot ain't strong enough against one."

Her smile quickly vanished upon hearing the truth and a frown replaced it. "What?"

"I'm sorry, kid."

"But then, why did you help me make one for?"

"Because it'll be good practice for ya for when yer older and I can teach ya how to use a more powerful weapon," he explained. "You can practice on hunting squirrels and rabbits if you want."

Her eyes enlarged. "I can't kill Thumper and his friends!"

Daryl couldn't help chuckle at that. "Thumper's food when yer starvin' in the woods."

"But he's too cute to kill for food."

"You like hamburgers, don't ya?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"You know they're made from cows, right?"

Audry nodded. "Yeah."

"You don't find them cute like rabbits or what?"

The kid thought on that, looking out the corner of her eye. "They're okay, I guess."

"Get stranded in the woods with nothin' but yer slinghot and yer belly starts rumblin', Thumper's gonna look plenty delicious like a hamburger."

Audry moaned. Finally, she admitted, "Okay, but only if I'm starving."

Daryl praised, "Atta girl," before adding, "but in the meantime, I have to teach you how to hunt, though. You willing to sacrifice a Thumper so I can show ya?"

She let out a sigh. "Fine, I guess." So Audry followed Daryl back out into the neighboring woods where he spent the next few hours showing her how to hunt small game with her freshly new slingshot, teaching her how to stalk out any kind like squirrels and rabbits. She didn't get any but that would be assumed since it was the kid's first time out on a hunt.

Later that night, hours after everyone had gone to bed, Audry started crying out in her sleep as she usually did, on a regular occurrence. At first Daryl and the others guessed she was dreaming of walkers. Even though walkers still terrified her, there was something that terrified Audry even more.

Daryl woke with a start once he heard the kid crying and shook her awake. "Hey. Wake up, kiddo." He continued to shake her until Audry bolted out of a sound sleep. But the kid never relaxed at that point. Her head searched around through the dark, shaking like crazy. "It's just me, kid. Yer fine," he assured her. Once Audry knew where she was, she would then cling to him, crying into his side. "It's okay, kiddo. I got ya. I got ya." It took a while before Audry was fully calm again. It was heartbreaking, to say the least. Usually, Daryl managed to do it, holding his arms around her. It took some getting used to and learning how to console a child before the guy was fully able and comfortable comforting the kid. At first he was unsure what to do once Daryl had gotten her awake. But when he was the only one she would cling to, Daryl really didn't have a choice but to learn. Now, it was starting to become more natural to him. It was hard to believe Daryl Dixon was now the guardian of a seven-year-old kid. He promised to make sure Audry was well protected and would be taken care of, though.

After a while, her cries became sniffles that eventually ceased. Carol had once suggested singing or humming a lullaby to help lure her back to sleep once he got her to relax. Of course the guy didn't know a single lullaby. What did work was humming a Led Zeppelin song to her, and that seemed to do the trick. Once the sniffles had started, Daryl started humming, not stopping until long after Audry was asleep again and laid her back on her pillow, covering her up with a blanket.

"Night, kiddo." With Audry taken care of, Daryl laid back against his own pillow and let sleep overcome him, subconsciously wrapping a protective arm around the kid.

* * *

 ** _While reading through the first part again, it gave me a couple more ideas so I decided to write another chapter. Let me know what you think! :)_**


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